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Updated January 12, 2022
U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
Background
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Humanitarian assistance has
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
also increased in recent years in response to both the
is the lead international humanitarian and development arm
emergence of new natural and human-induced humanitarian
of the U.S. government. Established in 1961 to lead
crises, and ongoing protracted crises. (See CRS In Focus
implementation of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as
IF10568, Overview of the Global Humanitarian and
amended, its programs support U.S. strategic and
Displacement Crisis.)
development aims by providing assistance to strategically
important countries and countries in conflict; leading global
Figure 1. USAID-Implemented Program Funding, by
efforts to alleviate poverty, disease, and humanitarian need;
Sector and Region: FY2021 Estimate
and assisting U.S. commercial interests by furthering
developing countries’ economic growth and building these
countries’ capacity to participate in world trade.
USAID is responsible for the management of more than
$25 billion in combined annual appropriations, representing
more than one-third of the funds provided in the
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related
Programs (SFOPS) appropriation and international food aid
provided in the Agriculture appropriation. Some USAID
appropriations accounts are programmed collaboratively
with the Department of State (State), making any
calculation of its current budget imprecise. (For more on
SFOPS, see CRS Report R46935, Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2022
Budget and Appropriations.)
USAID’s workforce totals more than 10,000, with
approximately two-thirds serving overseas. The agency
maintains more than 60 country and regional missions that
design and manage a range of projects, most intended to
meet specific development objectives as outlined in a
Country Development Cooperation Strategy. Most projects
are implemented—through a grant, cooperative agreement,
or contract—by one of thousands of foreign and U.S.
Source: ForeignAssistance,gov and CRS calculations.
development partners, including nonprofit private voluntary
Notes: Gov. = Governance; Infr. = Infrastructure.
organizations and other nongovernmental organizations
USAID Under the Biden Administration
(NGOs), for-profit contractors, universities, international
USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who took office in
organizations, and foreign governments.
May 2021, set three priorities for institutional change at
In FY2021, the most recent year for which detailed
USAID in her “New Vision for Global Development”: (1)
estimates are available, USAID provided assistance to more
increasing the number and diversity of voices involved in
than 130 countries. Foreign aid allocations reflect both
the USAID mission by “broaden[ing] the coalition”; (2)
recipient needs and U.S. foreign policy priorities. The top
focusing assistance more “on the voices and needs of the
10 recipients of USAID-implemented funds in FY2021
most marginalized”; and (3) making aid more “responsive”
were, in order of funding, Ethiopia, Jordan, Yemen, South
by better incorporating the perspectives of those on the
Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Nigeria,
ground. Such priorities build on those of previous
Sudan, Afghanistan, and Kenya. Reflecting USAID’s
Administrations, including those articulated in USAID
poverty reduction mandate, 72 of the 82 World Bank-
Transformation (Trump) and USAID Forward (Obama).
determined low- and lower-middle-income countries
In her nomination hearing, Administrator Power also
received assistance in FY2021, with 30% of USAID funds
identified four “interconnected and gargantuan challenges”
programmed in sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 1).
that USAID will aim to address over the next four years.
Since the early 1990s, health has consistently been the
These include the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change,
largest USAID sector, bolstered since 2004 by billions of
conflict and state collapse, and democratic backsliding.
dollars in transfers from State’s President’s Emergency
Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and since 2020 by
emergency assistance to combat the Coronavirus Disease
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U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
Issues for Congress
local perspectives into development and broaden agency
USAID faces numerous challenges in the process of
partnerships—including more private sector engagement—
fulfilling its mission, in part due to how the institution has
are meant to address this challenge. USAID has also
had to adapt to changes in U.S. foreign aid priorities over
increased its project monitoring, evaluation, and learning
time. Some challenges that observers have noted and
requirements for both staff and implementing partners to
Congress may choose to address include the following:
measure project progress. Congress may pursue additional
sustainability and effectiveness requirements in authorizing
Budget. Unpredictable annual budgets are often seen as a
or appropriations legislation and/or seek further information
management challenge for USAID. There is often a
via formal or informal communications with USAID.
significant disparity between what is requested for USAID
programs and what Congress appropriates (e.g., the Biden
Human Resources. USAID staff are hired and managed
Administration requested a 6% increase in the agency’s
under more than 20 mechanisms. These include direct hire
administration budget; the Trump Administration proposed
staff (e.g., civil and foreign service) and nondirect hire staff
a cut of nearly 10% to the same expenses). Further, final
(e.g., personal services contractors and institutional support
funding levels are often enacted months into the fiscal year
contractors). USAID has stated that this structure does not
due to Congress’s use of continuing resolutions, requiring
give enough flexibility to meet the agency’s evolving
offices to redistribute funds to meet global needs on a
needs. Further, some experts are concerned that the
smaller budget or to program large sums of money in
agency’s increasing reliance on nondirect hire positions has
relatively short time periods. These disparities and delays
led to a lack of institutional knowledge and higher staff
can pose ongoing challenges to USAID’s planning and
turnover. The USAID Office of Inspector General also
program implementation that Congress may seek to
found in 2019 that staff responsible for award and contract
mitigate through USAID-specific or broader budget
management often felt overworked, without the time to
reforms.
conduct adequate program oversight. Congress may
examine these issues, and possible legislative responses, as
COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, USAID has
part of its agency oversight activities.
led U.S. foreign assistance efforts to “prevent, prepare for,
and respond to” COVID-19 abroad. Assistance activities
Employee Diversity. In June 2020, the Government
have included vaccine distribution and health systems
Accountability Office (GAO) found that USAID was not
support to combat the disease, and distance learning and
fully successful in its efforts to increase the agency’s
food security interventions, among many others, to address
workforce diversity between 2002 and 2018. USAID
the pandemic’s second-order effects. Congress provided
outlined a number of steps it would take to address these
supplemental funding in FY2020 and FY2021 for USAID’s
findings, including revising its operational policy, updating
work and continues to monitor implementation through
the agency’s Strategic Plan for Diversity and Inclusion
oversight mechanisms. Moving forward, Congress may
(completed in 2021), and analyzing workforce data to
consider whether additional funding—via regular or
inform future diversity and inclusion work. Congress has
emergency supplemental appropriations—is needed for the
signaled its support for workforce diversity efforts within
global COVID-19 response and, if so, whether the existing
foreign affairs agencies through annual appropriations
balance of resources for addressing first- and second-order
legislation provisions and multiple oversight hearings,
effects remains appropriate or should be adjusted.
though efforts to date have focused more on the State
Department than on USAID.
USAID and the State Department. During the Trump
Administration, a long-standing debate about the USAID-
Program Flexibility. Congressional funding mandates,
State relationship was renewed in the context of agency
specifying amounts for health, biodiversity, and other
reorganization efforts. Stakeholders proposed potential
sectors, account for as much as two-thirds of USAID’s
reforms, including making USAID the coordinator of all
annual program budget. These, plus any presidential
government humanitarian and development assistance,
initiatives, may limit USAID missions’ capacity to advance
absorbing USAID into State, and creating an entirely new
the objectives of their Country Development Cooperation
aid agency. While the Trump Administration never
Strategies. Some critics assert that legislative conditions
articulated firm plans to drastically modify the relationship
further stymie flexibility and cost efficiency. Congress may
and the Biden Administration has not pursued any broad
consider whether legislative directives, individually or as a
institutional changes, the debate may continue. USAID was
general policymaking tool, effectively balance support for
never established in statute; its status in relation to State has
Members’ priorities with USAID’s broader strategy.
been shaped largely by executive order and could feasibly
Fragility. Security concerns in fragile states may hinder
change without congressional action. Congress may seek to
successful project implementation. In 2018, USAID joined
formalize the relationship between the two agencies, though
with the Departments of State and Defense to conduct a
critics of that action may argue that doing so could leave
Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR), which offers
the Administration with less organizational flexibility to
lessons learned and best practices for working in conflict-
meet emerging global challenges.
affected areas. Congress has engaged on these issues,
Sustainability and Effectiveness. Congress has
including with the enactment of the Global Fragility Act of
demonstrated continued interest in how USAID ensures that
2019 (P.L. 116-94, Div. J, Title V), and may consider
project efforts are maintained by local governments and
additional legislative or oversight measures to ensure aid
organizations after U.S. support ends (e.g., enactment of the
effectiveness in fragile environments.
Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016,
P.L. 114-191). USAID’s continued effort to incorporate
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U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
IF10261
Emily M. Morgenstern, Analyst in Foreign Assistance and
Foreign Policy
Disclaimer
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10261 · VERSION 11 · UPDATED